Basketball

By Djack

A classic game of master vs apprentice, Luke Walton took on his former team the Golden State Warriors in a game in which the super team Warriors should've blown the doors off a young Lakers team. Unfortunately for Golden State, they live and die by that 3 ball, shooting 5-32 for 15% ain't going to get you a win against many teams in the NBA. Lakers didn't shoot much better from 3 point land, 8-30 for 26% is marginally below the league average, difference is we don't live and die by that shot. We might have not shot the ball well from deep, but we executed in all other facets of the game, and we blew the Warriors out by 20 points as a result. Lakers shot 19-21 from the free throw line, nothing better than taking advantage of free points when they're given to you which the Lakers did an excellent job of last night, the Warriors could not say the same as they were 14-20 from the line. Lakers out rebounded the Warriors last night, especially on the offensive glass, can't be giving the Lakers more chances to get the ball in the hoop than they already have, that's why the Lakers were able to put up 95 shots last night opposed to the Warriors 86. There was no one key thing the Lakers did that excelled them to this win over the Warriors, it wasn't like anyone went off having a career game or something like that, the Lakers just played great team basketball, and the Warriors weren't able to hit their 3's. D'Angelo Russell only played 22 minutes last night, still scored 17, 9 of those points coming from beyond the arc. Julius Randle also had a big game for the Lake Show 2.0, he put up 20 points dominating a weak Warriors interior, and he brought down 14 boards as he was in full beast mode all night. Lou Will continues to be the impressive veteran scorer for us the last two games, putting up 18 in the win against the Hawks, and 20 in the win against the Warriors. Lakers are now back to a .500 record on the season, I'll go ahead and say it right now, if the Lakers finish 41-41 this season I'll be ecstatic because that means we are just a few wins next year from being back in the playoffs. I mean we did just beat the best team in the west by 20 points, maybe the Lakers should just go ahead and represent the west in the finals this year. Okay, now I'm getting way too far ahead of myself, these deceiving 20 point blowouts early in the season over arguably the best team in basketball are not good for my confidence level, shoots it through the roof, and now when the Lakers don't reach my expectations I'll be all pissed off, even though those thoughts should've never crossed my mind. The NBA Finals thing clearly a joke, 41-41 not so much, so when the Lakers get 30 wins this year, and I'm depressed because this win got me riding high, it'll make me hate the Warriors that much more for giving me false hope. As for the Warriors, they're still the best team in the Western conference without question.